(LEAD) Trump, Kim meet for historic summit in Singapore

(ATTN: UPDATES with remarks from 4th para)

SINGAPORE, June 12 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un kicked off their historic meeting in Singapore on Tuesday by shaking hands and posing for photographers.

The two leaders exchanged words in front of a row of the two countries' flags displayed at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa Island.

They then walked down a colonnade with only their translators behind them before entering a meeting room.

"We're going to have a great discussion, and I think tremendous success," Trump said with Kim next to him. "And it's my honor, and we will have a terrific relationship, I have no doubt"

Kim acknowledged it wasn't an easy path to the meeting.

"There were fetters and wrong practices that at times covered our eyes and ears, but we overcame everything to come this far," he said in Korean.

The two are scheduled to hold a 45-minute one-on-one meeting before holding expanded bilateral talks with their top advisers followed by a working lunch.

hague@yna.co.kr
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